


A Matter of Honor

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 17:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13463382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: El Noche put a price on Mac’s head. That price now doubled. Or, when your enemies make a pact. A coda to eps 107 & 211. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	A Matter of Honor

When they’re called into the war room - Matty’s exact words are, “Dalton, Blondie, get your butts in here, now!” - the last thing Jack expects is to come face to face with Sarah again. For the first time since her wedding. 

“S-Sarah…?” Jack stammers, eyes wide, steps faltering.

She smiles and his heart does a somersault in his chest. “Hi, Jack. You look well.”

He clears his throat and squares his shoulders, feeling Mac’s sympathetic look on him. “You too. How’s the, uh, hubby?”

“Jeff’s great,” Sarah tells him, still smiling sweetly. “We’re both great.”

“That’s, uh, that’s great,” Jack responds, feeling very,  _very_ awkward. He really does not like feeling like this. At all.

“ _Great_. Now that’s done, can we get to the point of this meeting?” Matty butts in, sounding annoyed, and Jack’s never been more grateful for her bluntness. She turns to Sarah. “Please, tell them what you told me.”

And now there’s something else in her voice, something that makes Jack pay attention and actually forget about his personal issues for the moment. Whenever Matty sounds this grim, bad things are about to happen, he knows.

Sarah nods and sighs. “Unfortunately, I didn’t just drop by to say hi.” Her eyes linger on Jack a second longer, than she moves on. “My team at the CIA’s been working with the DEA and the Mexican police, trying to stop the cartel war that broke out south of the border after the Phoenix Foundation dismantled the Merida and the La Ola cartels.”

“We did?”

The question comes from behind Jack and only then does he realize that Bozer and Riley are there, too. He was so taken with Sarah when he entered that he didn’t even notice them at first. It makes him rather annoyed with himself.

“Yeah, Boze,” Riley replies. “The Merida cartel was before your time.”

“And the La Ola cartel crumbled after Hector Ruiz’s failed attempt at killing me,” Mac adds. “You don’t get to just waltz into a police station like that without  _some_ consequences. It drew too much attention to the smuggling scene and the other cartels made his people pay. There’s nothing left of the La Ola.”

But Sarah clears her throat. “That’s not  _exactly_ correct.”

They all look at her and Mac asks suspiciously, “How so?”

“We’ve had Hector Ruiz’s associates under surveillance for weeks now, trying to follow the money, where it comes from and where it goes, and two days ago, we recorded this conversation between Hector and his once-lieutenant.”

She turns to tap on the screen and a recording starts playing, two voices speaking Spanish over the phone, apparently. And the longer Jack listens, the more furious he feels. At the same time, though, a shiver runs up his spine. He glances at Mac who stands there, stone-faced, the paper clip he took from the glass bowl on the low table when they entered, now half-twisted into as of yet unrecognizable shape, frozen in his hands.  _Jesus…_

The recording stops and silence settles over the room. Everyone’s staring at Mac now, grim, apprehensive, serious. Everyone except for Bozer, that is, he’s looking from one to the other, uncertain and confused.

“Alright, now English, please?” Bozer asks. “Mac, you know I’ve gotten a D in Spanish. Mrs. Alvarez claimed I was responsible for all of her gray hair.”

“Hector Ruiz made a pact with El Noche himself, Boze,” Jack says slowly, not taking his eyes off Mac. “They doubled the price on Mac’s head. They blame him  _personally_ for their  _misfortune_ and they think that by taking him out, they’ll save their faces.”

Bozer looks from Jack to Mac then back again. “Alright, a) who’s El Noche and b) Mac, there’s a price on your head? Why does nobody ever tell me anything here?”

Mac takes a deep breath and drops his eyes to the paper clip in his hands. Jack follows his gaze, seeing that Mac twisted the thing beyond recognition, probably without even realizing it, considering his surprised blink. This is not good.

“El Noche - or Joaquin Sancola - was the head of the Merida cartel,” Riley explains. “Mac helped him escape from prison. Thornton thought he would lead us to the cartel’s headquarters. And he did. But he also realized Mac was an agent. It was pure luck we found him before Sancola killed him.”

Yeah, Riley’s tone suggests she’s still pissed that they ignored her advice and didn’t pull Mac out before it all went to hell. Sure, Jack got Mac back but… but he knows that Riley’s right, it  _was_ pure luck. And it was very close. Very,  _very_ close.

“After that, El Noche put a price on my head,” Mac explains a little hoarsely.

“How much?” Bozer asks.

“Four million US dollars,” Sarah answers. “And that price was now  _doubled_.”

Bozer’s eyes widen. “Eight frickin’ millions? Jesus Christ, Mac, what did you  _do_ to that El-whatever guy? I mean, you blew up La Ola’s drug lab  _and_ their guns, I get why  _they_ hate your guts but that other dude? What’s  _his_ beef with you?”

Riley snorts. “You mean besides the fact that Mac got him arrested again and rooted out the remnants of his organization?” Her voice’s dripping with sarcasm.

“Right,” Bozer says. “Gotcha.”

But Mac glances at him over his shoulder. “It was more than that, Boze. El Noche  _liked_ me. It didn’t stop him from torturing me, sure, but he  _liked_ me. He wanted to kill me himself for betraying him. And he didn’t get to do that. So instead, he put a price on my head, every last penny he had. It’s a matter of honor for him.”

Silence settles over the room again until it’s broken by Bozer again. “He  _tortured_ you? What… what did he do?” he asks in a soft, hesitant voice.

Jack sees Mac clench his hand into a fist around the misshapen paper clip. He doesn’t answer. But Jack remembers the gas cylinder with pure nitrogen. And the breathing mask. Before that, Jack didn’t know what nitrogen could do, he’s always abhorred torture, never wanted any part of it, so he had to look it up.  _Drowning,_ that’s what it feels like to breathe in pure nitrogen. It feels like  _drowning_. And they used that shit on Mac.  _Christ_.

Sensing Mac’s desperate need to change subjects, Jack turns to Sarah and asks, “How did these two yahoos actually became such good pals?”

“They both ended up in the same maximum security prison,” Sarah replies. “I guess they got talking and realized that the same guy destroyed both of their organizations. And they decided to do something about it. Eight millions is a  _very_ good incentive, Mac. When the transcript of that phone call landed on my desk, I knew I had to warn you.”

Mac nods. “Thanks, Sarah. I really appreciate it.”

“Can you do something about this from your side?” Matty asks Sarah. “We can up our security measures and be more vigilant, but unless we actually place Mac in protective custody indefinitely, there’s not much we can do about this.”

Sarah nods. “We’re going after their money. Neither the Merida cartel, nor La Ola have much left, if we can ferret out their remaining bank accounts and make it known that they can’t pay their debts or, at the very least, that their money’s being tracked, maybe no one will take the job.”

“Maybe?” Bozer exclaims in disbelief. “Maybe? That’s all?”

Sighing, Sarah turns to him with an expression full of regret. “There’s nothing else we  _can_ do. As Mac said, it’s about  _honor._ There’s no way Sancola or Ruiz will withdraw the offer. We have nothing we can threaten them with, they’re both serving life sentences without parole. Their money’s the only thing we still  _can_ take away.”

“No money, no hit,” Riley says.

Unless someone does it for free. Honor among, well,  _drug kingpins_ and stuff like that. Because Mac told Jack all about his last meeting with El Noche, back there in prison. Sancola might not have any money left, true, but he still has friends or people who owe him. And the look Mac throws at Jack tells him that Mac remembers it, too.

They say their goodbyes then, promising to stay in touch, because there’s nothing else to discuss at the moment and Sarah’s needed back in Mexico City. But when she goes, Jack jogs after her, catching her just outside the war room.

“Jack,” she says, her tone gentle but also a little awkward. “If it’s about me and Jeff–”

And for once, it isn’t.  _That_ hasn’t crossed Jack’s mind ever since she told them why she was here. 

“It’s not that,” he assures her quickly. “It’s about Mac…” He glaces towards the war room where Matty’s talking to Mac in a serious, hushed tone of voice and Mac’s nodding along, looking grim.

“Yes?” Sarah asks.

Jack takes a deep breath and looks straight at her. “Please,  _please_ , if you hear  _anything_ , any chatter about anyone taking the cartels on their offer,  _please_ , let me know. I’ll watch his back as best as I can but there’s only so much I can do flying blind. And I can’t be there 24-7.”

Sarah smiles and steps closer to squeeze Jack’s arm. “I’ll do my best, Jack. I promise. I’ll let my team know and spread the word. If I come across anything, you’ll be the  _first one_ to know.”

Nodding gratefully, Jack replies in a soft, thick voice, “Thanks. It’s just that… I can’t lose him, Sarah. I can’t. It would kill me. He’s not just my partner, he’s-he’s  _family_.”

She nods in understanding, squeezing Jack’s arm once more before letting her hand drop. Then she looks at Mac through the glass paneled wall and sighs, smiling ruefully. “He’s a great guy, your MacGyver, but he sure knows how to pick his enemies, doesn’t he?”

Jack barks out a laugh, even though it’s really not funny, at all, and says, “You have no idea.”


End file.
